


R2- Love or Lust

by thudworm



Series: Tony Stark Bingo 2019 [13]
Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Age Regression/De-Aging, Friends With Benefits, Love Confessions, M/M, Mutual Pining, Shovel Talk, love or lust
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-28
Updated: 2019-07-28
Packaged: 2020-07-23 00:24:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,775
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20000941
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thudworm/pseuds/thudworm
Summary: Tony and Bucky have a friends with benefits thing going on. So what happens when something goes wrong on a mission and Tony ends up as a five year old?





	R2- Love or Lust

Tony wished he could say that he had no idea how he had gotten himself into this situation, but that would have been a lie. 

The fuck-buddies thing he had going on with Bucky had come out of an offhand joke after a particularly long and shitty Avengers mission. As everyone was changing out of their uniforms and returning their weapons to storage, someone (probably Clint) had said something about finding a partner for some stress relief and Tony had agreed with the sentiment. 

He hadn’t thought anything of it until Bucky, who had been lurking behind as he waited for everyone else to finish leaving their equipment, came up behind him to whisper his proposition in Tony’s ear. 

What followed was one of the best blowjobs of Tony’s life, and it was far from a hardship to return the favour. But before Tony had a chance to suggest they get together or something, Bucky was gone. 

Tony had assumed it was just a one-off, but it happened again after the next mission, and the one after that. Somehow they fell into a habit of it. After each mission one would lead the other to their bedroom and they would get down and dirty before returning to status quo of just being friends and teammates. 

Which was how Tony found himself with everything he wanted simultaneously right there in front of him, and impossibly out of reach. He’d fallen in love with Bucky months ago, but it was clear that Bucky though of him as nothing more. And maybe it would have been better to not torture himself with moments that hinted at something between them, but Tony was desperate enough to settle for what he could get. 

*

Bucky had been psyching himself up to answer Tony’s request for stress relief when the Avengers Alert went off. All the message had said was “shitty day putting out fires at SI- could use a hand if you’re up for it ;)”. 

Bucky had been more than ‘up for it,’ even though it got harder and harder to just walk away from Tony like what they did together meant nothing to him. One of these times he was probably going to throw caution to the wind and accidentally confess his feelings to Tony, killing any hope he had of something more, but he was saved by the metaphorical bell. 

He was the last one to make it to the hanger bay, and had to endure the ‘slow old man’ jokes from Clint, at least until Steve called them all to attention to explain what the mission was. 

“The Museum of Natural Science was broken into, and the thieves made it out with an amulet from the Gem Vault. Normally that would be a job for local law enforcement, but they contacted SHIELD, who’ve called us in, because they have reason to believe that the artefact is genuinely magical. No one seems sure of what it might be capable of, so we need to be prepared for anything, including that it’s all a lot of fuss over nothing.”

As Steve continued laying out the mission plan, Bucky could just hear Tony grumbling under his breath about how much he hated magic, and had to bite back a laugh. 

Everyone piled aboard the quintet except Tony, who typically preferred to fly under his own power whenever possible. Bucky was torn between disappointment he got to spend even less time with Tony, or being glad he had a chance to switch over into mission mode instead of horny mode. 

They landed on the roof of a building close to the museum, where they could get a decent look at the chaos on the streets below. Civilians were panicking and running in every direction, trying to get away from the thieves who were attempting to use the amulet. They didn’t seem to be having much luck with it yet, but the green sparks it was shooting off weren’t something he wanted to get too close to if he could avoid it. 

“I don’t think we have to worry about it being a fake, there’s definitely some sort of power in that thing,” Tony said. 

“Iron Man, Falcon, see if you can get their attention and keep them focused on you, rather than the civilians. I’d rather not find out what that thing can do if they can get it to work,” Cap commanded. “Hawkeye, find a vantage point and be ready with the stun arrows. Widow and I will try and take them down; Thor, Winter Soldier, help get the area evacuated.” 

Everyone shifted into action to carry out their orders. Hawkeye called on Iron Man to drop into position on the tallest building nearby, which left Bucky to hitch a ride to street level with Thor. From there it was onto the task of convincing civilians he was the safer option than staying where they were, which was not easy. Even though he understood how fear reactions worked, it didn’t make it any less frustrating to stand there and argue in the middle of a battle scene. 

Bucky didn’t see the hit that took down Tony, he only heard Falcon’s call on the comms with just enough time to watch as the Iron Man armour crashed into the ground, and he wasn’t moving. Bucky didn’t spare a second thought for the civilian he had been trying to coax out from under a car, he just bolted in Tony’s direction. 

Bucky was the first one to reach Iron Man and he didn’t hesitate to tear the armour open when he couldn’t find the manual releases in some places. There was a cacophony of voices in his ear, shouting for him or Tony to report their status, but Bucky ignored them all. He finally managed to pry open the suit, but Tony wasn’t inside.

Instead, there was a small child, either asleep or unconscious, in the torso section, with no sign of Tony. Still paying no attention to any of his teammates, Bucky stormed over to where Thor had a solid grip on the subdued thieves. 

“What did you do to him?” He must have been channelling the Winter Soldier’s demeanor more than he intended because they both just about wet themselves in fear.

“I- I- I’m not sure. I don’t know. This wasn’t meant to happen!” 

Bucky turned away in disgust and returned to where the Iron Man armour was lying in the middle of the street still. Nat was crouched over the boy, who hadn’t yet woken, and she looked up as he approached. It took a lot to shock the Black Widow, let alone for her to allow it to show in her face, but whatever was going on here was enough. 

“I recognise him. This is Tony when he was young.” 

“How do you know what baby Stark looks like?” Sam asked, curious. 

“Back when SHIELD had me undercover at Stark Industries, in the background info on Tony, there were old family photos. JARVIS would have to confirm it to be sure, but I think it’s definitely him.” 

“We need to get him back to the Compound, and have Bruce check him out.” Steve was still in full ‘Captain America’ mode, which was probably a good thing, they all needed someone to be in charge right now. 

Bucky didn’t hesitate to be the one to pick the boy up, not wanting anyone else to step in, and held him close to his chest, head resting on his shoulder. The t-shirt Tony had been wearing earlier today was like a dress on the much smaller child, but at least he wasn’t young enough that Bucky had to worry about him losing control of his bodily functions- being peed on (or worse) would be the cherry on top of a shit sundae of a day. 

He led the way to the quinjet, not waiting to see if the others were following. SHIELD had finally shown up, and he assumed they would be taking over the scene from here, including taking custody of the would be thieves. 

Clint, Nat, and Sam were speculating about the possible causes of Tony’s situation, suggesting time travel, deaging, or a child from an alternate dimension as the most likely options. All of those options had the same protective instincts rising in him, so Bucky didn’t particularly care which it was, just as long as he got  _ his _ Tony back as soon as possible. 

Bruce’s particular skills had been deemed unnecessary for this callout, but JARVIS had obviously kept him up to date on the situation as he was waiting for them in the hanger bay when the quinjet landed back at the Compound. “I can give him a basic once over, but no matter how often you try to make me otherwise, I’m not a medical doctor.” 

“We should call in Dr Strange,” Sam suggested. “He’s a doctor on top of his Sorcerer Supreme schtick, so he’s probably the only person really qualified for this bullshit. I mean, what are our lives?”

“Don’t go too far, Sam. You’re medic-trained and I could use the help,” Bruce added. 

“Someone should contact Rhodes and Potts. Even if we don’t know exactly what’s going on yet, they deserve a heads-up. If Iron Man’s out of commision we need War Machine on stand-by.” Steve was clearly still in ‘Captain America’ mode, stressed because a teammate was in an uncertain state. Usually Bucky would be the one to talk him down, but he wasn’t doing any better than Steve. 

“I’ll take care of it,” Natasha said.

“Someone needs to get started on the paperwork. Clint, Thor. If you don’t mind.” 

Clint grumbled about being relegated to paperwork, but he and Thor knew there was no point arguing with a stressed Steve in Cap mode.

The four remaining Avengers moved down to the med-bay, Bucky still carrying the child. It was an awkward wait for Bucky and Steve left to stand around with nothing useful to do as Bruce and Sam checked him out.

As soon as they had finished was the moment Dr Strange chose to appear, quite literally out of nowhere. JARVIS must have taken the initiative to contact the magician himself, concerned about his creator. 

“I don’t know why you called me in for this. I’m a neurosurgeon, not a pediatrician.”

Bucky could have quite happily punched the arrogant dick in the face if he wasn’t so necessary right now, but Bruce apparently had no qualms in telling Strange to do his damn job. “Well, if you know of any pediatricians with knowledge of magic then feel free to send them our way, but as far as I know you’re the only person remotely qualified for this.” 

Strange didn’t bother replying to Bruce’s jab, just moved to stand next to Bruce and Sam and look at the child they were assuming was Tony. The three of them spoke in low tones, but not quiet enough that Bucky couldn’t hear them. 

Apparently it was a de-aged Tony lying there, still asleep, not time-travel or a visitor from another dimension. The consensus also seemed to suggest that we was a normal healthy 5 year old, unremarkable except for how he was meant to be a 46 year old adult.

“How do we get him back to normal?” Steve asked.

“Magic such as this cannot sustain itself indefinitely. I believe it should be no longer than a week before he reverts to his typical adult self,” Strange replied. 

Bucky was relieved to hear it, but there was one concern niggling at him. “What about the arc reactor?”

“Magic and technology often do not mix well,” was Strange’s answer. “It would be prudent to have a spare available at all times if you wish for Stark to avoid death by shrapnel.”

JARVIS, who had been silent until now, finally spoke. “Sir has several back-up reactors in case of such emergencies. I am able to temporarily offer access to whoever will be Sir’s primary caretaker for the time he is unable to care for himself. I believe Colonel Rhodes has both the inclination and skills necessary for the job.”

Bucky hadn’t thought any further ahead than this, unable to consider it until there was an answer, but if this was going to be the situation for the next week he couldn’t stand the thought of Tony being someone else’s responsibility. 

“I’ll do it. I’ll take care of Tony.”

Sam and Bruce both seem surprised by him emphatically volunteering himself, but Steve just gave him a look of sad understanding. Bucky had of course told Steve about his and Tony’s ‘stress relief,’ and Steve had read him like a book and asked if he was ever going to tell Tony about his feelings. Bucky had denied it, as pointless as it was when he kept making it obvious like this. 

“It makes sense. Whoever’s looking after him will need to be off the roster if we get another call to Assemble, and with Iron Man out of commission War Machine will be vital. We can make do with one less sniper than usual if we have to.” Steve was a tactical genius for giving Bucky a plausible reason beyond being in love with Tony, and he was going to owe Steve a massive favour after this. 

“As I’m no longer needed, I will take my leave of you.” Strange waved his arms to summon a portal and then was gone as suddenly as he had first appeared. 

“I’ll stay here with him for now, you three go upstairs and update the others on what’s going on.” Bruce phrased it as a suggestion, but it was clear disagreeing wasn’t an option.

They went up to the lounge to find everyone waiting for them, including Rhodey and Pepper. Bucky had never spent much time around them, or ever really talked to them, but he knew they were just as concerned about Tony as he was. 

Steve explained everything Strange had told them, as well as Bucky’s plan to be the one taking care of Tony. Rhodey and Pepper shared a look at that, and, much like Bucky had told Steve, he assumed Tony hadn’t kept their arrangement a secret from his two best friends. They didn’t object to Bucky, at least, which was a relief. 

“So he’s still asleep?” Rhodey asked. “Should we wake him up or just leave him?”

“I think wake him now,” Bucky replied. “As far as he knows we’re all just strangers and we need to know how he’s gonna react to us.”

“Maybe we’ll be lucky and he remembers everything, and he’s just pint-size for a while.” Clint was not as helpful as he thought he was, so Bucky just ignored him and returned to the med-bay. 

Tony was awake and talking to Bruce when Bucky entered. But what the hell was he wearing? He was dressed in an outfit clearly modelled off of what Bucky wore in the field, right down to the left sleeve of the shirt resembling his metal arm, red star and all. 

Tony was asking questions about the various machines and monitors around the room, and even though Bucky didn’t know much about children he knew that Tony was understanding it all much better than a typical 5 year old. Obviously his genius had shown through right from the start.

Tony didn’t notice Bucky standing there watching him until Bruce pointed him out and introduced him as “my friend Bucky. He’s going to be looking after you for the next few days, if that’s okay with you.”

Tony just sat there and stared at him, silent for long enough that Bucky began to regret thinking he could do this, but eventually he slowly nodded and Bucky sighed with relief. 

“Here’s a list of things JARVIS has arranged to be delivered tomorrow,” Bruce said.

Bucky looked it over briefly, glad to see regular clothes were on the list. “Where did that outfit even come from, by the way?” Bucky asked.

“There was a bunch of sample Avengers merchandise sent a while ago for our review and approval. It was either that or a paper gown for him to wear.”

“That doesn’t explain why, out of all the Avengers, you chose a Winter Soldier shirt to put him in.”

Bruce gave him a knowing look. “Are you sure you want me to answer that?”

Bucky shook his head and didn’t reply. He figured the kid would probably be hungry, and junk food was always a good way to win over any child, so that was as good an excuse to leave the Medbay as any. 

“How ‘bout we check out the kitchen? I don’t know about you, but I’m so hungry I could eat a horse.”

That won him a small giggle from Tony, and Bucky started to believe that maybe this wouldn’t go so badly after all. 

He helped him climb down from the bed, and wasn’t really surprised when Tony kept hold of his metal hand. It figured that little Tony was just as interested in it as big Tony. 

Bucky led the way to the kitchen and helped Tony sit at the table while he searched through the cupboards for the easiest to prepare food he could find. Fortunately, Clint was basically a child himself, so there were a few boxes of sugary cereal to choose from. 

“JARVIS, add replacements for these to the grocery list, the last thing I need is Clint playing pranks on me as revenge for eating the last of his Fruity Pebbles.” 

It was getting late, well past what a reasonable bedtime for a 5 year should have been, and Bucky had no idea where Tony was meant to sleep. Tony’s own room wasn’t exactly childproof- he was guaranteed to have at least three half-assembled gadgets or prototypes strewn about plus all sorts of tools. Not to mention it was on the opposite end of the living area from Bucky’s room, and he wanted to be immediately accessible if Tony needed him. 

One night of sleeping on a couch wouldn’t do Tony any harm, hell it would probably seem like an adventure to him, so Bucky gathered up a few spare pillows and blankets and set the couch up as a bed. Tomorrow he could figure out something more suitable for the rest of the week. 

Bucky hadn’t managed to find time for a shower post mission- hell, he hadn’t even changed out of his tac gear- and Tony was probably in need of one too (or should it be a bath at his age?), but that was tomorrow’s problem as well. 

Little Tony had so far been the opposite of adult Tony when it came to how much he talked, and there was the same difference when it came to getting him to bed- Tony was asleep before his head hit the pillow.

Bucky had this.

*

Bucky did not have this.

Everything had been going fine until Bucky had found himself being woken up at ass o'clock in the morning by Tony poking at his prosthetic arm. 

“JARVIS, what time is it?” Bucky mumbled into his pillow, not quite ready to give up hope of getting more sleep. 

“It is currently 5:48 a.m., Sergeant Barnes.” 

Sam and Steve had usually finished their morning run by now, maybe he could have them entertain Tony for a couple of hours while he caught a bit more sleep. 

Bucky sighed deeply and dragged himself out of bed, mentally cursing at himself for yesterday thinking this was a good idea. 

He led Tony to the kitchen, and apparently yesterday’s quietness was not a sign of things to come, because Tony was asking questions about his arm at a million miles an hour. He found Sam and Steve in the kitchen where he’d assumed they’d be, shovelling food into their faces. Admittedly that was more Steve than Sam, and it wasn’t like Bucky had much room to criticise, but he wasn’t in a mood to be charitable in his thoughts when they were laughing at him for his bedhead and generally not being a morning person. 

He had been planning on asking them nicely to watch Tony for a few hours, but if they were going to be dicks he would too. “Hey Tony,” he fake whispered, “do you know who that is?” he asked, and pointed at Steve. Tony shook his head, having gone shy in the face of strangers. 

“Bucky,” Steve warned through a fake smile, obviously having guessed where Bucky was going with this but not wanting to upset Tony by yelling. 

“That’s Captain America.”

Bucky wished he had a camera with him- the look on Tony’s face was priceless. Maybe one of JARVIS’s cameras had a good angle he could get a photo from. 

“I’m sure if you ask him nicely he can tell you all sortsa stories about being Captain America, and the Howling Commandos. Maybe, if you’re really good, he might even show you the shield.” 

Sam was hiding his face behind the fridge door, laughing, clearly taking just as much enjoyment from this as Bucky was. Tony took a few minutes to get his brain back into gear and start nagging Steve, but once he started there was no stopping him. Steve was barely able to get a word in to answer a question from Tony before he was being asked another. 

He was going to pay for it later- there was no way Steve wasn’t going to get revenge by telling Tony he was  _ that _ Bucky- but for now it was worth it for the chance to escape back to bed for at least a few hours. 

—-

JARVIS truly was a modern miracle, Bucky thought as he looked over the mountain of boxes that had been delivered this morning. Steve had dumped Tony back on him, quite literally, while he was still in bed, asleep. His human alarm clock wasn’t as easy to silence as a normal one, so he’d had to drag himself out of bed and find something to entertain Tony with. 

Rhodey had come to help him in unpacking, while Tony was having more fun playing in the empty boxes themselves than with any of the dozens of toys which had come in the boxes. 

“My sisters kids are the same. You can buy them the toy they’ve been nagging for for months, but come Christmas morning it’s the wrapping paper and boxes that get all the attention.” 

Bucky could barely remember anything from his life before the war, but Rhodey’s comment sparked a vague memory of two girls. His sisters? But no matter how much he tried to focus on the details, to remember more, there was nothing more forthcoming from his patchwork memory.

“How’s it been so far?” Rhodey asked a few minutes later. 

“We’re doing alright. He’s a good kid. Hasn’t had a problem listening to me or anyone else, even though we’re basically strangers to him. Which is weird though, right?”

“Yeah, well. It’s a good thing he’s only 5 now; I think it wasn’t until after he turned 6 that the first kidnapping happened. Which means if he was a bit older than he is now, we’d be in massive trouble when he decided to MacGyver an escape method from a paper clip, a spoon, and some duct tape.” 

And damn if that didn’t make Bucky want to find someone to beat the crap out of. Something of his thoughts must have shown in his face because Rhodes gave him a grim smile. 

“Oh, it gets worse, if that’s possible. Tony’s never liked to talk about his home life, but I’ve been his best friend for years, and I’ve learned to read between the lines of what little he does say. Howard and Maria were often busy with the company and rich people social bullshit, which didn’t leave much time for Tony. It wasn’t uncommon for him to be left with strangers to look after him, basically at the drop of a hat. There’s a reason JARVIS was named after the family butler- the man was much more of a father to Tony than Howard ever was.”

And now Bucky had a specific someone he wanted to beat the shit out of; too bad that it would require a time machine to do so. 

“I know. Trust me, I felt the same way back when we were at MIT and Tony would almost never go home over breaks, because there was no one to go home to. I ended up bringing him home with me a few times for the holidays, because it wasn’t like adding space for one more was a hardship, and he needed it, not that he’d ever admit it.”

“I’m glad he had you,” Bucky replied. 

“Yeah, I am too. But I’m glad he’s now got a whole bunch of people in his corner. Some in particular.” Rhodey said with a significant look in Bucky’s direction. 

Bucky didn’t know how to respond to that, but surely Rhodey didn’t mean that the way it sounded. Thankfully he was saved from replying when JARVIS reminded Rhodey that it was almost time for the scheduled team training exercise. Bucky usually looked forward to participating, but since he was on babysitting duty this week he wasn’t involved this time. 

“You know, with War Machine I’d be able to take you down without breaking a sweat. I do like you, and I’d rather not have to, so don’t hurt him,” Rhodey said as he left the room.

“Well that was terrifying,” Bucky muttered to himself. He didn’t doubt for a second that Rhodes was right, but he had no intention of ever doing anything that would hurt Tony, even without the fear of that wrath being brought down on him. 

—-

“Why won’t you let me do work? I’m not a baby!” Tony had somehow realised there was a workshop at the compound and was demanding to be let in to do ‘work.’

This was far, far above Bucky’s pay grade. The workshop was in no way safe for Tony when he was this young; hell, it was hazardous even when he was full-sized. But having denied Tony access was about to cause a temper tantrum of epic proportions, and Bucky didn’t know how to deal with that either. 

“I’m not a baby!” Tony shouted again and stamped his foot. “I already know how to make a circuit board, and I know lots of other things.”

There was no good solution here that Bucky could see, but maybe… “JARVIS?” 

“I believe the young Sir may be quite interested in meeting the inhabitants of the workshop.”

That was a brilliant idea, and Bucky was kicking himself for not thinking of it sooner. There was no way a kid like Tony would think the bots were anything less than the coolest thing ever, and they were safe for him to interact with, as long as any culinary attempts were closely monitored for oil. 

The look on Tony’s face upon seeing the bots was another priceless expression, one to rival realising Steve was Captain America. 

DUM-E and U were just as enamoured with Tony as he was with them. Bucky couldn’t understand what the various chirps and whistles seemed to mean the same way Tony could, the man could have proper conversions with them despite the lack of words, but even he could tell how excited the bots were by their little visitor.

“JARVIS, do they know Tony is Tony?” Bucky asked. 

“I had tried to explain it to them when the incident first occurred, so they were aware of why Sir would not be present in the workshop for several days, but they do not understand the concept of ageing, as such. The closest comparison I was able to make for them was that Sir is temporarily running off of a much older backup, and therefore does not currently have full functionality.” 

While Bucky was talking to JARVIS, Tony crawled under one of the workbenches and emerged covered in dust and grime but triumphantly clutching a silver ball with a red star on it. It was one of the stress balls Tony had specifically ordered for Bucky to use to help calibrate the arm during maintenance. 

Playing fetch with the bots was something Bucky sometimes used as an excuse to remain in the workshop after arm maintenance, when he wanted to spend more time around Tony, so it was a game the bots were used to playing. In no time at all Tony was shrieking with laughter each time he threw the ball for DUM-E and U to chase after. 

The simple, uncomplicated joy Tony showed as he played with the bots brought a warm and fuzzy feeling to Bucky’s heart, as cheesy and cliche as it sounded to him inside his own head. If he’d had any doubts about how he felt about Tony, this was more than enough to put them to rest. 

—-

On day 5 of Tony being tiny, Pepper and Happy drove up to the compound to see him. 

“Oh my god,” Pepper said when she first saw him. For his part, Tony was hiding behind Bucky's legs, suddenly shy about meeting new people. 

“JARVIS sent me some images from his cameras, but seeing him in person is just. Wow.”

Bucky could sympathise with Pepper’s reaction- five days in and he still could barely believe this was something that had happened. 

“I’m sorry I haven’t been up to see you all sooner, but my first priority was covering for Tony’s absence in a way that wouldn’t have the media going mad, or managing to find out the truth.”

“Well, I’m sure JARVIS would have given us a heads up if it’d hit the news, so I think we're in the clear there at least.” 

While they talked Happy had managed to coax Tony into sitting next to him on the floor, and had pulled a kids science kit out from somewhere. The box said ages 12 and up, so hopefully it wasn’t so simple that Tony would be bored of it in five minutes. 

“It’s strange seeing him like this,” Pepper said with a sad sort of smile as they watched Tony playing with Happy. 

“When we were together.” She paused. “We both agreed that neither of us wanted children. But… I have to admit there were times I did wonder what it would be like if it did happen. I would have expected our child to have a strong resemblance to him, Tony looks a lot like his father after all.” 

Bucky had no clue how he was meant to respond to that. What the hell should he say to the ex-girlfriend of the guy he was in love with?

“Sorry,” Pepper said. “I didn’t mean to make it awkward, it’s just such a bizarre situation, and it brought back some memories I didn’t think I’d be revisiting.”

“It’s fine,” Bucky replied.

“I think you and Tony would be good together, but he won’t ever be the one to make the first move,” Pepper said out of nowhere.

Bucky couldn’t help but gape at her. Rhodey had implied something similar about him and Tony, but this was the first time someone had come right out and said it plainly. 

“I’m sorry if I’ve misread this, but I don’t think I have, have I?” 

Bucky just shook his head mutely. He was quite ready to admit it out loud, but he couldn’t deny the truth, either. 

—-

Day 8 since Tony had been turned, and there was still no sign of him reverting. Bucky had been ready to beat down the door to the Sanctum Santorum and threaten to force feed Strange his damn cape if he didn’t find some way to fix Tony, but Steve had talked him down. His patience had limits, though, and he was in the middle of ranting to Steve about it, and taking it out on the heavy bag, when the Avengers alert went off. 

Steve looked conflicted about leaving to answer the call, but Bucky didn’t need coddling. “Go, save the world from giant fire breathing ducks, or whatever the hell it is now. I’ve gotta go grab Tony from Rhodey so he can suit up too.” 

Tony was a perceptive kid, and when Bucky turned up at Rhodey’s quarters he was clearly aware that something important was happening. He was clinging strongly to Rhodey’s leg, unwilling to let him go, no matter what Rhodey was saying to convince or bribe him. 

Bucky had to think fast, whatever the callout was probably wouldn’t wait politely for the Avengers to show up, and War Machine was an essential part of the team with Iron Man out of action. 

Tony had been amazed at seeing the bots when he was in the workshop, maybe the same would hold true for the War Machine armour. “JARVIS, can you bring up an image of Rhodes’ suit to show Tony?” 

Just like Bucky had hoped, Tony was enamoured. With a promise of getting to see it in action, Tony finally released Rhodey’s leg. With a grateful nod in Buckys direction Rhodey took off running for the hanger bay. Hopefully it wasn’t a world-ending threat, because Bucky doubted any of them would be at 100% focus for it. 

“C’mon, I’ll take you to where the jets are, we can watch as they fly off,” Bucky suggested and Tony seemed happy with. He kept a death grip hold on Bucky’s hand as they walked, though, clearly unwilling to risk Bucky leaving too. 

He refused to let go of Bucky's hand until after the hanger door had closed behind the quinjet, even as he waved goodbye as they left. 

Tony seemed interested in poking around the hanger bay, even though the quinjet itself was gone, and Bucky was content to let him. Anything to keep him distracted from everyone who had left was a good thing, and JARVIS would warn him away from anything hazardous. 

“I don’t feel good,” Tony called out, which was the only warning Bucky had before he collapsed to the ground. 

“JARVIS!” Bucky shouted. 

“I have alerted the Avengers, they are returning as fast as they are able.”

There was no flash of light, no puff of smoke; but one second Tony was a 5 year old, and the next he was his normal adult self. With no arc reactor. 

“JARVIS!” Bucky shouted again, too panicked to think clearly. 

“The nearest available arc reactor is located with the Iron Man armour in the repair bay. I am remotely operating it, it will arrive at your location in less than 30 seconds.”

JARVIS was true to his word, but those 30 seconds felt like a lifetime as Bucky stared down at Tony’s unconscious form. For quite possibly the first time ever, Bucky was grateful for the metal arm, because it was the only reason he was able to keep steady as he followed JARVIS’ instructions to place the arc reactor into that terrible empty hole in Tony’s chest. 

The relief he felt when he heard it click into place was second only to how he felt when Tony resumed breathing. He half sat, half collapsed next to Tony, and waited for Bruce and the others to return. 

*

Tony woke slowly to the pain in his chest which suggested something had gone wrong with the arc reactor. The last thing he remembered was being called out to deal with a pair of thieves who had stolen an amulet, seeing an incoming flash of magic, and then nothing. His arms felt heavy as he pulled the hospital gown out of the way to see what the fuck was going on. 

The reactor in his chest was not the one that should have been there. It was an older model he’d since redesigned and upgraded, and left in the safe as a back-up. So what the fuck was it suddenly doing in his body.

“JARVIS?!” The note of panic in his voice was probably obvious to anyone around to hear, but Tony didn’t exactly have it in him to care about that right now.

“Sir! It is good to finally have you back to normal.” 

“Want to explain this to me, buddy?” Tony asked JARVIS, but it was Bucky who answered. Tony hadn’t noticed him sitting there beside the medbed, too busy being freaked out. 

“What’s the last thing you remember?” 

It was hard for Tony to think. “There was a call to Assemble? Some magic user trying to take over the world, typical Tuesday for the Avengers.”

Bucky made a face at that, a weird mix of relief and disappointment. “Today is Tuesday, that was a week ago. So you remember nothing about the past week?”

Tony shook his head no, and immediately regretted it when it sent a spike of pain through his head. “Why do I get the feeling I don’t want to know what happened?”

“That magician managed to get a good shot at you, and it transformed you into a five-year-old version of you. We got Strange to come check you out, and he said there was nothing to do but wait for the spell to run its course and you’d revert to normal without any assistance.”

That… that was a lot to take in, and as soon as he was released from Medical, Tony was going to hole up in his workshop with a glass or three of scotch. “Is that why the arc reactor is this older one?”

“Yeah,” Bucky replied. “When you changed back the reactor didn’t reappear, so JARVIS gave me emergency access. I don’t know if it’s you or the magic I can blame for shitty timing, but there was a call out and you changed about 5 minutes after the others left. Once I didn’t think you were gonna drop dead in front of me, I brought you down here so JARVIS could check you out. Bruce and the others should back soon, so you’ll have to put up with his poking and prodding.” 

That made sense, except for the part where Bucky was the one to have stayed behind to play babysitter. “Why you?”

“Why was I the one looking after you?”

“Yeah,” Tony replied. “Rhodey has a few nieces and nephews he’s looked after before, and I couldn’t have been worse as a kid than he already had to deal with when we were at MIT together. No offence, but you never struck me as particularly paternal, so were you the one to draw the short straw of being stuck with me, or what?”

“I wouldn’t exactly say that I was stuck with you, the others all pitched in to help, and it was surprisingly fun- you were a cute kid. And I maybe kinda insisted on it right from the start.” That last sentence was said so quickly and quietly that Tony was sure he must have misheard. 

“Run that last sentence by me again.”

Bucky hid his face is his hands in a poor attempt to hide the blush that was creeping up his face. “I insisted on being the one to look after you. I couldn’t stand the thought of not being the one to protect you when you couldn’t take care of yourself. And I figured it was the only chance I was gonna get to spoil you the way I wanted to, gave me an excuse to be as affectionate as I could.”

“If I didn’t know any better, I’d think you were implying you have feelings for me. Like, dating feelings,” Tony said with an awkward laugh. Obviously he was just hearing what he wanted to hear, wishful thinking was a powerful thing.

“What if I am?” Bucky challenged. 

Tony just stared, speechless. He knew he should probably say something, like how he felt the same way, but the words wouldn’t come. 

The hopeful look on Bucky’s face fell, obviously assuming the lack of an answer was an answer in itself, so Tony reacted without thinking. He grabbed onto Bucky’s hand and used it as leverage to pull him into a kiss. 

If he’d thought about it for more than half a second Tony might have found a better way to make his point, because moving like that hurt like a motherfucker. But actions did speak louder than words, and the look Bucky was now giving him was more than enough to make the pain in his chest worth it. 


End file.
